by Terry Hutchens, USA TODAY Sports

by Terry Hutchens, USA TODAY Sports

Indiana coach Tom Crean said Monday morning that he expects Victor Oladipo to play Tuesday night at Michigan State.

Oladipo injured his left ankle late in the first half of Indiana's victory Saturday against Purdue and sat out the second half.

"We practiced some yesterday and he went through that,'' Crean said. "He is doing a great job of rehabilitating it and has done a great job with (IU trainer) Tim Garl. I think it's getting better, so I don't anticipate that he won't be ready to go tomorrow night.''

Oladipo, a junior guard, is the Hoosiers' No. 2 scorer at 13.8 points a game. He leads the team in steals with 59

During the Big Ten coaches teleconference, Crean was asked about how much better Oladipo has been this season on offense.

Crean mentioned a game at Purdue last season when Oladipo was forced into a different role after Verdell Jones III was injured. Crean said that seemed to boost Oladipo's confidence and that he has continued to improve since then.

"It was really only a matter of time with the work ethic that he has and the way that he plays,'' Crean said. "He's such a guy that loves to be in the gym, loves to work on his game. I mean yesterday, nothing changes. He's getting extra shots, he's working on his ball handling.

"It's just what he does. He would probably have to be forced to not come to practice to not have a day where he wasn't in the gym working on it. He doesn't have distractions, and nothing ever gets him out of his commitment.''

Shortly after Crean's comments on the Big Ten teleconference, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo compared Oladipo's progress to former MSU great Morris Peterson. Izzo said Oladipo's motor is "Kidd-Gilchrist-plus," referring to NBA rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, who helped lead Kentucky to last season's national title.

"I bet there's not a coach in the country that doesn't love Victor Oladipo," Izzo said, adding that Oladipo has come as far in his career as any player in the Big Ten in a long time.